Gibbs calls Romney Olympic gaffe 'embarrassing'

7/29/12 11:15 AM EDT

Mitt Romney’s questioning London’s readiness to host the Olympics was “embarrassing for our country,” former White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said on Sunday.

Appearing on ABC’s “This Week,” Gibbs continued – and seemed determined to escalate –Democratic attacks over Romney’s assertion last week that stories raising concerns about Olympic preparations were “disconcerting.”

The statement, which the presumptive Republican presidential nominee later dialed back, “does make you wonder whether or not he’s ready to be commander in chief,” asserted Gibbs, who served as Obama’s top spokesman during the 2008 campaign and later in the White House, and is advising the president’s reelection campaign.

“Mitt Romney wondered aloud whether London was ready for the Olympics, and I think it’s clear that voters in this country wonder aloud whether Mitt Romney is ready for the world, and I think the world is not yet ready for Mitt Romney,” Gibbs said.

Romney campaign adviser Kevin Madden brushed off the fuss over the statement.

“I don’t think that a gaffe or a YouTube moment is really going to make or break this particular election,” he said. “The headlines that come out of London on one day are not going to be as important as the overall view that people take when it comes to our economic prosperity here at home and our safety security around the globe.”